


Pathfinder's Log

by singergurl91



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singergurl91/pseuds/singergurl91
Summary: The Pathfinder logs of Cassiopeia 'Cassie' Ryder.  Each log is accompanied by interludes of her life in Andromeda and her misadventures of becoming the human Pathfinder.  Rebellious by nature, can she promote the ideals of the Andromeda Initiative while still staying true to herself?Primarily a character study of my custom Ryder.  Eventual fluff, possible smut (?).  Current rating of Teen for cursing.  Possible change to Mature or Explicit later.





	Pathfinder's Log

**_Pathfinder’s Log_ **

**_Day 1_ **

**_Location: Heleus Cluster, Andromeda; en route to the Nexus from Habitat 7 on Ark Hyperion_ **

 

_ My name is Cassiopeia “Cassie” Nebula Ryder.  I am the human Pathfinder.  My father, the former Pathfinder, Alec Ryder died on Habitat 7 to save my own life.  And I believe traveling to Andromeda is most likely the most impulsive and stupid decision I have made in a life made up of impulsive and stupid decisions. _

 

_ I guess I should start from the beginning.  SAM says that talking about all that has happened can help me process it better than letting it stew in my head.  Or something like that. _

 

_ I was born on the Citadel space station in 2163, a few minutes ahead of my twin brother, Orion Aquila Ryder to Alec and Ellen Ryder.  I won’t bore you with the details of my childhood, just know that being the child of two workaholic parents when I had no interest in soldiering like Dad or scientific research like Mom, made me the black sheep of the family.  And in time I came to embrace that role. _

 

_ Orion always planned on being a soldier like Dad, ever since we were little.  So he was Dad’s favorite.  Mom always hoped that someone with my intellect would follow her into science, but my passions never truly aligned with hers.  So like a child starving for attention, I acted out.  I did great in school, never acted out in a classroom, but outside of school, I was a hellion.  It was usually just acting out, picking fights, minor acts of aggression and rebellion.  At least that was before I graduated school when I was sixteen.  Once I graduated, I had nothing to do.  No one on the Citadel would hire an underage punk that spent more time in C-SEC than any other part of the station.  _

 

_ Oh yeah, I should mention that both Orion and I have higher than normal intelligence and we both graduated from school earlier than others.  Like I don’t believe in the whole IQ bullshit, but we were always bored in school, so we got moved up two whole years to challenge us.  Which to be completely honest, wasn’t all that challenging either.  After graduating, Orion and Dad left the station, something about pre-military training.  Orion never told me anything about it, but my suspicions are that Dad was putting him through the N-School basics before he was of age to join the Alliance.  Mom hoped that I had calmed down enough to intern with her on her biotics and implant research but she wasn’t that lucky.  I got bored easily and ended up sneaking out more often than not, finding my way to bars to drink and flirt and dance, anything to ease the tedium and boredom of my life at that point. _

 

_ After a few months of being dragged home by a Turian C-SEC officer almost every night, Mom and Dad had a ‘conference’ trying to figure out what to do with me.  Neither of them came up with any decent ideas, so I ended up announcing to them that I wanted to go to college on Earth.  I think that shocked the hell out of both of them; neither of them spoke for a few minutes after that.  Even though they didn’t like the idea of their underage daughter going by herself, I was able to convince them that it would keep me busy and out of trouble. _

 

_ I don’t know how they bought that, coming from their trouble child.  I started applying for schools in the United States and got accepted by all of them, old and prestigious ones as well.  But I ended up choosing a school in Wyoming because I wanted to be close to my favorite place on Earth, Yellowstone.  We had visited once as a family when I was a child and I was struck by the natural beauty of the place.  The fact that something so dangerous and deadly was roiling below the surface that could kill all of humanity at any moment in time, it felt like I had found the natural embodiment of my soul. _

 

_ I majored in human history, with a double minor in human literature and Citadel race histories.  Though the coursework was grueling, I graduated Summa Cum Laude after three years while also having time to work part time as a park ranger and enjoy a rousing social life.  For a nineteen-year-old, I think I was doing really well for myself.  I made friends, both humans and those of the other Milky Way races, fell in and out of love, and learned a lot about myself in those years.  Funnily enough, I never ended up in trouble during that time, much to my parent’s surprise. _

 

_ When I came back to the Citadel, I found out that the Alliance was building an interspecies peacekeeping corps and they were looking for someone with background knowledge about all species to help smooth over any possible cultural misunderstandings between the members of the corps.  I jumped at the chance and joined immediately.  Shortly after, I realized that being a member of the corps meant more fighting pirates and other dissidents than actually repairing mishaps between fellow soldiers.   _

 

_ I never wanted to be a soldier. I hated fighting.  I hated killing.  Even when people were shooting at me first, I abhorred it.  After a few months of begging, I was reassigned to a team researching Prothean dig sites.  I was much happier there since it was only old artifacts and pure conjecture and debates regarding what each item did before the Protheans disappeared.  But in my life, I’ve learned that happiness never lasts, no matter how hard you try to hold onto it. _

 

_ About six months into my time with the dig site, I found out that Dad had been dishonorably discharged from the Alliance military for illegal AI research and I was removed from my post.  Apparently, Orion had also been discharged from his post at Arcturus at the same time, the entire Ryder family falling into disgrace. _

 

_ I hated my father for that. _

 

_ I hated him even more for hiding Mom’s illness from me and Orion. _

 

_ It was then that Dad first told us about the Andromeda Initiative and that he was to be a ‘Pathfinder’; a soldier, scientist, and guide for the human race to find a new home in a new galaxy.  “A new start,” he had said, “for all of us.” _

 

_ Problem is, he never got that new start.  Orion hasn’t either yet. _

 

Cassie took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.  Dredging up the past wasn’t like her at all, and the lack of good memories she had with her father bothered her more than anything else.  She and Orion had talked almost every day they were apart when she left for college. Mom had made weekly calls to keep updated.  But Dad?  Barely anything in the years she was away.  And when they were all finally reunited?  All he talked about was Andromeda and his AI, his Simulated Adaptive Matrix.  SAM.

 

She swore the only time she could remember any affection in his regard for her happened earlier that day when they talked about Orion still stuck in his cryo pod.  And when he gave his life for hers.  

 

“Pause log,” she muttered.  Her omni-tool whirred in acknowledgment, just before she punched the railing surrounding SAM node.  “It doesn’t make any goddamn sense.”

 

“Pathfinder, I am detecting increased levels of adrenaline and cortisol in your system, yet I am detecting no enemies nearby.” SAM droned in her head.

 

“Yeah, I just wanna punch something, alright?” she responded tersely, shaking out her sore hand.

 

“Then I would recommend avoiding the console to your left.”

 

Cassie sighed again, a slight chuckle in her voice, “Duly noted SAM.  Also, please don’t call me Pathfinder.  I can’t-”  Her voice cracked for a moment, tears threatening to spill out before wrestling her emotions back into their tightly packed box in her head.  Regaining her composure she continued, “I can’t deal with being called that just yet.  It’s too raw of a wound right now.”

 

“How do you wish for me to refer to you then?”

 

“Ryder.  Or Cassie.  Whichever works for you,” she waved a hand carelessly towards the glowing blue orb that was the AI ingrained into her brain.

 

“Noted, Ryder.  If I may interject?” Cassie made a noise of assertion before SAM continued.  

 

“You said ‘it doesn’t make sense’.  You are referring to your father choosing your life over his on Habitat 7, correct?”  Another grunt of assertion.  “He may not have expressed it to you or your brother often, but from my experiences with him, I know your father deeply cared for you both.  In his last moments, his thoughts were only for you and your brother, and his hope for your success in Andromeda.”

 

Cassie scoffed and rolled her eyes, flexing her sore hand, the desire to punch something rising again in the back of her mind.  “I know you’re trying to help SAM, but now’s not the time for that.  Just let me be angry for a while.  Those feelings will resolve themselves in a while.”

 

She leaned back against the cold metal wall that arched towards SAM, allowing herself to slide down until she was seated.  Pulling up her omni-tool, she said, “Resume log.”

 

Slowly, she began to recount their arrival to Andromeda, everything going smoothly until Ark Hyperion hit a strange phenomenon of dark energy, causing multiple disruptions to Hyperion’s functions, as well as interrupting her brother’s awakening from cryo, which led to him being stuck in a coma presently.  She talked about her initial impressions of Habitat 7, the terror of plummeting down to the ground, the lightning and floating boulders all around her, a mountain surging up to meet her just as her jump jets began functioning again, to the rough landing cracking her helmet and the initial panic before fixing it with her omni-tool.

 

The horror of the whole situation was lightened by Liam Kosta’s presence at her side, his levity and candor easing the terrors of Habitat 7.  But meeting the aliens there, first contact failing horribly and forcing Cassie to shoot to kill for the first time in years, had broken some part of her soul.  That broken part, however, had quickly scarred over when she saw those aliens kill Kirkland in cold blood.  The old teenage rage from when she ended up in fights on the Citadel boiled up in her as she shot those aliens without a moment of remorse, wishing she could have taken them out before they had shot Kirkland.  From that moment on, she felt no hesitation when it came to ending the lives of those aliens.  Since they would show her people no mercy, she would show them the same courtesy.

 

Exploring what they could of the planet and killing whatever aliens they came across, Cassie and Liam discovered a few things about the planet before they found their way to Cora and the other shuttle under attack.  They made quick work of their attackers and with their comms restored, the three of them found their way to Alec.  After a rare few words of praise from her father, they stormed the alien base, making their way to the monolith at the center.  Cora and Liam held off the aliens from two sides while Cassie defended Alec-who was using SAM to decode this alien monolith-by picking off stragglers with her sniper rifle.  

 

After watching her father activate the monolith, she had been happy.  More rare words of praise from Alec threw her off her guard, and she didn’t notice the gust of smoke and wind and  _ something else  _ that pulsed out from the monolith, throwing her and her dad off the platform, plummeting again to the ground.  This time, her helmet’s faceplate shattered from the impact, thus causing her father to sacrifice his life for hers.  Which finally led to her sitting on the cold metal floor of SAM node recording her first log as Pathfinder, a position she never planned to inhabit, nor wanted to.

 

Cassie finished her log, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.  Closing her eyes, she started some breathing exercises that an Asari friend of hers had taught her back on the Prothean digs, in an attempt to calm her nerves.  Barely five breaths into her exercises, the door to SAM node hissed open.  Cora’s voice filled the nearly empty space.  “We’re approaching the Nexus, Ryder.  Captain Dunn wants to see us on the bridge before we dock.”  Cassie nodded and stood up, joints popping as she stretched.  She silently followed Cora, the woman who should have been Pathfinder, to the bridge.  Liam, uncharacteristically silent, joined up with the two women outside the bridge, squeezing Cassie’s shoulder lightly before letting go to stand quietly by her side, the doors to the bridge hissing open.

  
Cassie took a deep breath, readying herself for the plunge into becoming the Pathfinder, and stepped forward.


End file.
